Newton girls edge DCG after final round of LHC golf tournament

OSKALOOSA — Four golfers from the Newton girls golf team shot well under 100 during the final round of the Little Hawkeye Conference tournament.

Two Cardinals posted career-best scores and another turned in a season-best score as Newton shot a season-best 360 at Edmundson Golf Course.

It was good enough to push the Cardinals into fourth place in the final standings.

“The girls finished strong yesterday at our last Little Hawkeye Conference meet of the season,” Newton head girls golf coach Nicole George said. “I spoke with the girls at practice last week about how I knew they hadn’t played their best golf yet so I was happy to see them put it all together.”

Norwalk and Indianola finished first and second, respectively, on Monday. The Warriors shot 340 and the Indians carded a 346.

Those two teams also finished at the top of the final standings with Norwalk scoring 18 points as the conference champion. Indianola (14) edged Pella (13) for second and the rest of the field included Newton (8), Dallas Center-Grimes (7) and Oskaloosa (3).

The Lady Dutch shot 354 and placed third in the final round. Newton’s season-best 360 bettered both DCG (387) and Oskaloosa (397).

“We have a very competitive conference so although we didn’t end in the top half, our scores were right there and I’m proud of how we did,” George said. “It was an amazing day of golf.”

Addie Ratcliff turned in a career-best 85 to lead the Cardinals. She finished sixth in the individual standings.

Evie Main shot a season-best 88, Johana Cerna carded a 93 and Addie Hook posted a career-best 94 as the final counting scorers. Kalleigh Berndt (104) and Eva Pak (104) had non-counting scores.

The top 12 finishers in the final standings earn all-conference honors. Cerna wound up ninth with 11 points and Ratcliff finished 11th with seven points.

“Again, it’s a tough conference so to have two girls earn these honors is great,” George said.

Pella’s Karsyn Lyons was the meet medalist with an 80 and the overall conference champion with 36 points.

Norwalk’s Evalyn Kinney shot an 82 as the runner-up medalist on Monday, but Norwalk’s Lydia Krueger scored 31 points as the overall runner-up.